Tegra 2-powered ViewSonic G Tablet lands for $399

[Matthew DeCarlo]

While there should be plenty of tablets to choose from next year, the pickings are still slim for anyone that wants an iPad alternative this holiday season. One potential option, the ViewSonic G, has begun rolling out to retailers this month, including Office Depot.

Priced at $399, or $100 less than the cheapest iPad, the ViewSonic G offers a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 SoC, 512MB of RAM, a 16GB SSD, and a 10-inch multitouch display with a resolution of 1024x600. That's plenty of real estate for basic use, but you can buy a docking station with HDMI output that'll let you watch 1080p videos on a larger display.

The slate itself carries a USB 2.0 port, a microSD slot, 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, as well as a front-mounted 1.3-megapixel camera for video conferencing. The device weighs 1.55lbs and reportedly maxes out around 8-10 hours of battery life -- both of which are slightly worse than the iPad's 1.5lb body and 9-10 hour runtime.

On the software front, ViewSonic's product runs Android 2.2 (Froyo), and there's also talk of hardware-accelerated Flash. It seems like VIewSonic is advertising its own "G Tablet Apps Store," so we're not sure if the slate ships with the standard Android Market.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/41367-tegra-2-powered-viewsonic-g-tablet-lands-for-399.html

 

[Xero07]

Seems simple and priced competitively. Would be nice to have the full android market im guessing.

 

[princeton]

If it has the android market I'm set for an xmas present. Tegra DESTROYS anything from qualcomm or ARM.

 

[princeton]

Sorry for the double post.

I meant a standard ARM processor. Obviously the tegra runs ARM based cores.

 

[KG363]

That seems pretty great. Can't wait to see what it can do!

 

[Guest]

You can sideload the google marketplace.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Looks pretty good... definitely would like a hands-on experience before buying though. I would really like a Windows 7 version or at least be able to install it myself. Although i'm not sure 512MB of RAM will play too smoothly in Win7.

Also more critically, this device needs to have the ability to upgrade to new Android OS when released... i.e. 3.0, 4.0, etc. If it can't do that then forget it.

 

[princeton]

IAMTHESTIG said:
Looks pretty good... definitely would like a hands-on experience before buying though. I would really like a Windows 7 version or at least be able to install it myself. Although i'm not sure 512MB of RAM will play too smoothly in Win7.

Also more critically, this device needs to have the ability to upgrade to new Android OS when released... i.e. 3.0, 4.0, etc. If it can't do that then forget it.

Also I wish it supported SD as well as micro SD. Here a 32GB SD costs less than an 8gb micro. Even though the normal SD has the same memory chip size as the micro one.

 

[cardriverx]

I am having a real hard time not buying this. XDA-DEV is having a feild day with it, just youtube TNT lite.

The only thing putting me off is the viewing angles, it seems pretty bad from the review videos.


Ugh, what to do...

 

[Wagan8r]

princeton said:
If it has the android market I'm set for an xmas present. Tegra DESTROYS anything from qualcomm or ARM.

cardriverx said:
I am having a real hard time not buying this. XDA-DEV is having a feild day with it, just youtube TNT lite.

The only thing putting me off is the viewing angles, it seems pretty bad from the review videos.

Ugh, what to do...

Just hold out a little longer for the Notion Ink Adam.

http://www.notionink.com/features.php

It's got specs that knock the socks off of this and anything from Apple.

 

[cardriverx]

wagan8r - Your totally right, for another $100 I would be able to get the adam with a Pixel Qi screen and 3g. We'll have to see how well their modified version of android works out (and what XDA-dev can do with it).

 

[mattfrompa]

wagan8r - thanks for that link. That is the first I had heard of it and seems very impressive.This Viewsonic tablet doesn't seem bad either.

 

[Omnislip]

Seriously, how do these companies even for a moment think that their own app store will make this any better?!?!?!?!

 

[gobbybobby]

All I can say is Wish it was 101F here!

 

[bioflex]

Omnislip said:
Seriously, how do these companies even for a moment think that their own app store will make this any better?!?!?!?!

this my friend is pathetic....imo, why cant they just go with the usual android market place?..

 

[PanicX]

wagan8r said:
Just hold out a little longer for the Notion Ink Adam.

http://www.notionink.com/features.php

It's got specs that knock the socks off of this and anything from Apple.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that you'll be holding out for a good bit more than a little while.

I'd actually be surprised to see their domain name get renewed this April, considering they only registered it for 2 years.

 

[princeton]

wagan8r said:

princeton said:
If it has the android market I'm set for an xmas present. Tegra DESTROYS anything from qualcomm or ARM.

cardriverx said:
I am having a real hard time not buying this. XDA-DEV is having a feild day with it, just youtube TNT lite.

The only thing putting me off is the viewing angles, it seems pretty bad from the review videos.

Ugh, what to do...

Just hold out a little longer for the Notion Ink Adam.

http://www.notionink.com/features.php

It's got specs that knock the socks off of this and anything from Apple.

Too bad I'm not going to wait for it to release in mid 2011. With india's record it might not even release at all.

 

[Wagan8r]

princeton said:

wagan8r said:
Just hold out a little longer for the Notion Ink Adam.

http://www.notionink.com/features.php

It's got specs that knock the socks off of this and anything from Apple.

Too bad I'm not going to wait for it to release in mid 2011. With india's record it might not even release at all.

Well, by "a little while" I was meaning more like Dec. 9th. There's a countdown on the website to that day. I'm assuming some kind of pre-order or release date announcement. Then, you'd be in better shape to make a more informed decision. Personally, I'm in no hurry so I'll wait until there is a more attractive offering. BTW, the device is already finished and being certified by the FCC as we speak.